In 2015 the Government refused the appeal of the Anjuman-E-Islahul-Mislimeen Trust against Newham Council’s decision to refuse them planning permission for the development of the largest place of worship in Britain. The court of appeal refused to permit a ‘statutory review’ of that decision, then refused Islamist Tablighi Jammat’s (TJ) last-ditch legal attempt to overturn the injunction against them. By rights TJ should put in a new planning application for mixed use, remove the temporary mosque, and stop using the site as a place of worship. However, TJ are going to the European court of human rights (ECHR) to try to keep alive their dream of a mega-mosque in West Ham. On Saturday 5 May Christians will attend an open-air prayer meeting overlooking the proposed site.

Ashers Bakery in Northern Ireland, which was found to have discriminated by refusing to make a ‘gay cake’, had their appeal heard by the supreme court on 1 and 2 May. They challenged the 2014 ruling over their decision not to make a cake iced with the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’. Appeal court judges upheld the original decision in 2016. The Christian owners of the bakery argued, ‘We didn't say no because of the customer; we'd served him before, we'd serve him again. It was because of the message. But some people want the law to make us support something with which we disagree.’ Their QC David Scoffield said, ‘They have been penalised by the state for failing to create and provide a product bearing an explicit slogan “Support Gay Marriage”, to which they had an objection of conscience.’

School leaders gathered in Liverpool for their union’s annual conference and voted to support a motion calling for more male teachers in early years education (currently men only make up 3% of the workforce). They agreed that it is important for all children to experience positive male role models, and understand that men can be interested in education, science or reading, just as much as in football. A diverse early years workforce can help children, especially those from deprived backgrounds, to visualise their futures and fulfil their educational potential. The shortfall is partly due to the perceived lack of status and importance this phase of education can have, and the subsequent lower pay such roles can attract.

On Saturday 12 May there will be the first ever ‘Pray for Justice’ event at St. Mark’s Battersea Rise, London. Intercessors from across the UK are being invited to be at the start of a pioneering move of prayer to end slavery. Delegates will go behind the scenes in the International Justice Mission (IJM) immersive prayer rooms, and an undercover investigator will guide people through the scene of a crime, showing them firsthand why IJM do what they do and why it is so vital that people pray to stop crimes like these from happening. They will hear about some of the most unjust situations on this earth, reflect on God's goodness when freedom and justice are restored, and contemplate his word and heart for justice in the new Lectio Divina prayer room. Pray for Justice is more than a prayer gathering: it is an entire community of game-changers across the UK praying for an end to slavery.